Steve Smith is on the cusp of breaking Sir Donald Bradman's 'world record' of scoring most runs in a Test series. Bradman had scored 974 runs in the 1930 Ashes series against England.

Key Highlights

Steve Smith is presently on 671 runs in 3 Ashes Tests this campaign

Sir Don Bradman had scored 974 runs in Ashes 1930 series

Smith could break Bradman's record if he scores 304 runs at the Oval

Has there ever been a bigger performance in Test cricket than the Australian Steve Smith has produced against England in the ongoing Ashes 2019? Despite missing a total of three innings due to delayed concussion, the former skipper leads the charts for most runs scored by a batsman in this campaign with 671 runs to his name. With the 5th and final Test beckoning, Smith could go on to break Sir Donald Bradman's world record of scoring most runs in a single Test series.

It was the 1930 Ashes series when Bradman accumulated a whopping total of 974 runs in 5 matches (7 innings) with the help of 4 hundreds. His highest in the innings was 334 runs, while runs came at an average of 139.14 in the series. Smith, on the other hand, has already aggregated 671 runs in 5 innings (3 matches), with a highest of 211 and an average of 134.20.

As for the tally most runs scored in an Ashes series, Bradman and Smith are separated by 11 places, with the second place occupied by Wally Hammond of England (905), Mark Taylor of Australia (839), Bradman (810), Alastair Cook (766), Bradman (758), Herbert Sutcliffe of England (734), David Gower of England (732), Arthur Morris of Australia (696), Steve Smith (687), Bradman (680) and Graham Gooch (673).

Smith's tally in the current campaign sees him being slotted at 12th spot in the list. If the 30-year-old manages to add 304 more runs to his total in the final Test, he would go on to topple Bradman and bag the No. 1 spot in the list.

While score 300+ runs in two innings don't seem an unrealistic target considering the batsman's form, what will be truly magnificent is if Smith manages to bag 329 runs at the Oval. Such a score would make him the first batsman in the history of cricket to aggregate 1000 runs in a single series.

It's been a truly phenomenal return to the Australia national team for Smith. The last time he wore whites for the national team, it was the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa that saw him being suspended for a year. Since his return, Smith has already dethroned Indian captain Virat Kohli as the No. 1 ranked batsman in ICC Test Rankings. While Kohli isn't scheduled to play a Test match till October second, another big performance from the Australian could see him take a significant lead in the standings.

Steve Smith sets sight on Sir Don Bradman's 'world record', but can he reach 4-figure mark?Description:Steve Smith is on the cusp of breaking Sir Donald Bradman's 'world record' of scoring most runs in a Test series. Bradman had scored 974 runs in the 1930 Ashes series against England.Sahil Bakshi